Preventing a Recall: How to Manage 3 Threats Facing Food and Beverage Plants

Minimize the top food safety risks in your food and beverage facility

Ask any food manufacturer or processor if they are committed to high safety and quality standards and their answer will, of course, be yes. But even with the strictest standards, thousands of recalls are still issued each year in the U.S. In 2015,the FDA recalled 9,178 products, a 12-percent increase over the previous two years. If you weighed the amount of goods the USDA recalled last year alone, it would be as heavy as 52 Boeing 747 airliners. That’s a lot of product gone to waste.

There are three common reasons for food and beverage recalls (listed in no particular order):

Undeclared allergens

Pathogens

Physical contamination

Let’s break down these three categories and examine ways you can minimize risk in your food or beverage plant:

1. Undeclared Allergens

“Undeclared allergens” describe products containing an allergen that is NOT listed on its label. FDA-regulated foods arelegally required to identify major food allergens like:

Prevent cross-contamination by following sanitary design principles

Undeclared allergens often stem from improper cleaning of machinery, which can lead to cross-contamination. Allergens can spread easily through contact with equipment, and unseen allergen residues can often linger and cross-contaminate the next product run despite cleaning.

Carefully inspect product labels to ensure accuracy

Mislabeling can also occur when you run different varieties of a product on the same production line, including allergen and allergen-free. A prime example: the growing popularity of gluten-free products.

Careful inspection is paramount to prevent mislabeling, but that is often easier said than done. With today’s increasing packaging line speeds, you may consider avision inspection system to catch mistakes the human eye may miss. The technology uses multiple cameras to inspect products at high speeds. It can even be set to look for specific allergen declarations on a package, with the ability to detect printing errors, as well.

2. Pathogens

Recalls due to pathogen contamination can be even more damaging than undeclared allergens because they put ALL consumers at risk, not just those with certain allergies. The top causes of pathogen-related recalls include the presence of bacteria such as listeria, salmonella and E. coli, among others.

Zones of control

You must separate areas that house uncooked (raw) products from cooked, ready-to-eat (RTE) products. The same applies to welfare areas for employees who work in these two separate areas. In other words, personnel who handle raw products should have separate locker rooms, wash stations and cafeterias from those who work with RTE products.

Temperature and moisture control

Controlling temperature and humidity is vital to reducing mold and bacteria growth. Proper mechanical systems, ventilation and refrigeration can minimize condensation in work areas. Also, consider using air dryers to lower the dewpoint of compressed air and to avoid condensation where steam from equipment meets cold pipes.

Ability to clean and maintain the facility

When it comes to your manufacturing plant and the equipment inside, select materials that are both durable and cleanable. Remember, it doesn’t take long for bacteria to grow, so it’s essential to keep production areas as clean as possible. This means regularly washing down equipment and requiring proper hygiene among personnel, too.

3. Physical contamination

Physical contamination—when a foreign object is mixed in with a product—is often the result of some breakdown in the production process, whether by human error or malfunctioning equipment. A number of foreign objects have caused physical contamination recalls, including:

Glass

Metal

Plastic

Rubber

Stones

Wood

Varioussafeguards can be built into your plant’s processing design to screen for physical contaminants, such as:

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Joe has more than 28 years of experience in the design, engineering and construction of food processing plants. Joe develops architectural and engineering standards to ensure compliance with client procedures, government codes and standards. Joe has managed projects for Burris Refrigerated Logistics, General Mills/Pillsbury Bakeries, Kraft...

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